After
stops the past three years in historic St. Petersburg on the Neva River, the
Russian Volleyball Federation will stage a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Grand Slam
event in 2008 for men and women. While the women will be making their first
visit to the Russian capital, the men played twice in Moscow in 1998 and 1999.
Brazilians captured the last three gold medals for both men and women in St.
Petersburg with three different menís champions while Juliana Felisberta Silva
and Larissa Franca captured all three womenís titles. Russiaís first appearance
on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar was in 1994 for the Goodwill Games in St.
Petersburg where teams from Norway and the United States captured the menís and
womenís gold medal, respectively. Moscow is one of nine new sites in 2008 on the
SWATCH-FIVB World Tour calendar along with Adelaide (Australia), Guaruja
(Brazil), Sanya (China), Prague (Czech Republic), Osaka (Japan), Myslowice
(Poland), Barcelona (Spain) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Pictured
below from the 2007 St. Petersburg Open are podium players (left to right),
Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky of Russian, and Brazilians Harley Marques,
Pedro Salgado, Juliana and Larissa. Barsouk and Kolodinsky are the most
successful Russian team in SWATCH-FIVB World Tour history as the Russian pair
posted five podium placements in 2007, including a silver medal finish at the
2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships at Gstaad, Switzerland.

European menís SWATCH
Stops
- The 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour menís calendar features 13 events
within the European Continental Federation.A
total of 128 SWATCH men's stops have been held in Europe, including the
Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The European continent has also hosted
SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in 1999 (Marseille), 2001 (Klagenfurt),
2005 (Berlin) and 2007 (Gstaad)

European womenís SWATCH
Stops
- The 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour womenís calendar features 11
events
within the European Continental Federation.A
total of 77 SWATCH women's stops have been held in Europea, including
the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The European continent has also
hosted SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in 1999 (Marseille), 2001 (Klagenfurt),
2005 (Berlin) and 2007 (Gstaad).